What does KB/sec mean? (2 posts)

Frank Lowney Member

I'm on a DSL connection watching an upload to an FTP server that I maintain (Rumpus from Maxum Development). I am supposed to have an upload speed in the neighborhood of 386 kbps (kilo-bits per second) yet Fetch is reporting only 38.8 KB/s which I hope means kilo-bytes per second. Multiplying 38.8 * 8 yields 310.4 which is at least in the right ballpark.

Scott McGuire Administrator

Hi,

Yes, that is correct, Fetch reports transfer speeds in kilobytes per second (KB/sec). So multiplying the figure you see in Fetch by 8 to compare it with your DSL connection's advertised speed is correct.

Transfer speeds almost never reach the advertised speed (which in the small print you'll find is really "up to 386 kbps," for instance) - it's reasonable to expect them to reach 80-90% of the advertised speed. So 38.8 KB/s = 310.4 kpbs upload speed on a connection advertised as 386 kpbs sounds about right.